Shabby Chic; Volume III

Seakay

bensonsmum wrote: »

Well i have finally done it!! finished my daughters new dressing table, i did have a few "sticky" moments as i wanted to cover the support for the mirror in the same stuff as i used on the drawers - but i couldn't get it to work, kept coming unstuck, thought i would try and do it in two pieces, that didn't work either so ended up taking off what was on there and rubbing down and starting again, but to be honest im well pleased with it.


and then for the finished dresser

Looks fabulous! What did you use on the front of the draws? It looks like that silk wallcovering that they used in grand houses in the 18th C but I'm assuming that it's something else?

the_money_pit

Thank you all for your replies, I have a dark varnished wooden trolley to renovate and I want to decoupage it, can I varnish over Annie Sloan paint?

hermum

She sells decoupage varnish, take a look at her website, http://www.anniesloan.com/acatalog/paints.html She has loads of books as well, I keep looking & drooling.

Savvy_sewing

hermum wrote: »

She sells decoupage varnish, take a look at her website, http://www.anniesloan.com/acatalog/paints.html She has loads of books as well, I keep looking & drooling.

OOh, her shop is in Cowley road in oxford. Just around the corner from where I used to live then! May have to get BF to go for a visit.
I am trying to do a French theme with my kitchen at the moment, but I have a modernised Housing Association kitchen, so its got to be more cafe style and just accessories.

I still havent finished doing my bedroom, in the Shabby Chic things. Did the bedding, cushions and curtains, but nothing else is done and I am still living out of boxes in there!. oops. Maybe this will be a bit of a kick in the proverbial that I need.:D

shirlgirl2004

the_money_pit wrote: »

Hi, Im just wondering if any of you shabby chicers have used Annie Sloan paint, and if so is it worth the extra money? thanks.

I painted my little tray and it covered the dark wood with just 2 coats. It doesn't look as perect a finish as I get normally but given the size I didn't use a roller. I am going to wax it but want the paint to be really hard first. I might actually sand lightly and give it another coat too. I'm not sure if I want to try my large coffee table with it now. I do like it to look really nice and not with lots of brush strokes. I get the feeling that Annie Sloan paint is supposed to have the brush strokes in it. Certainly the furniture in the shop I bought the paint from didn't look perfect.

hermum

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

I painted my little tray and it covered the dark wood with just 2 coats. It doesn't look as perect a finish as I get normally but given the size I didn't use a roller. I am going to wax it but want the paint to be really hard first. I might actually sand lightly and give it another coat too. I'm not sure if I want to try my large coffee table with it now. I do like it to look really nice and not with lots of brush strokes. I get the feeling that Annie Sloan paint is supposed to have the brush strokes in it. Certainly the furniture in the shop I bought the paint from didn't look perfect.

Did you try watering it down a little? On the Cafe someone said that she found it watered down avoids the brush marks.

annie-c

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

I painted my little tray and it covered the dark wood with just 2 coats. It doesn't look as perect a finish as I get normally but given the size I didn't use a roller. I am going to wax it but want the paint to be really hard first. I might actually sand lightly and give it another coat too. I'm not sure if I want to try my large coffee table with it now. I do like it to look really nice and not with lots of brush strokes. I get the feeling that Annie Sloan paint is supposed to have the brush strokes in it. Certainly the furniture in the shop I bought the paint from didn't look perfect.

A damp washing up sponge can be used to apply paint to small areas.

Personally, I am waiting to see reviews from someone who has had Annie Sloan paint on their furniture for a year or so, before I will use it on anything significant.

She says that you don't need preparation or finsh with it... but in the 'small print' says these might be necessary for well-used areas like the cutlery drawer. I'm not yet convinced by it, though I'd like it to be the miracle it claims to be.

Personally, I have taken short cuts in the past and got reasonable results by painting eggshell paint onto unprepared wood. That too works fine on areas that won't take any hard wear, and there is no need for waxy finishes there either. But for long lasting effects, I always sand, prime etc because by the time I have finished a job and paid for the paint, I don't want even the possibility that it will end up chipped and needing re-doing anytime soon.

This is what Annie Sloan says about painting kitchens... along with my general dislike of all the CAPITALS and exclamation!!!marks on the main website, this part really annoys me for its spelling mistakes and unfinished sentences..... I just fear that she will have packed in her business by the time anything painted with her paints will have stood the test of time....

Painting Kitchens

You can use our paint on kitchen cabinets using at least 2 coats of paint and then give it two or three coats of wax to seal it. Our wax is water repellent and strong and makes a good connection to the paint. Our paint is meant to give character and interest rather than a perfectly smooth 'plastic' finish of some paints. Refresh every now and again with some more wax when it needs and to clean use a propriety spray cleaner like Mr Muscle.
No need to sand or prime although in the areas where there is a lot of use like the cutlery drawer it might be wise. I am assuming the kitchen is wooden. If you are painting onto an extremely shiny surface it will not adhere so well but never the less we do use it on these surfaces. For somewhere that gets a lot of use like a kitchen a wooden surface provides the best surface, BUT the paint will stick to even glass, and if you have a kitchen you want paint rather than have an ugly laminate then i wouod go ahead! Some laminates are extremely shiny like glass, while others whilst shiny

hermum

On her site it says that she's been selling the paint since 1991, I wonder if it would be possible to find anyone who painted something that long ago & it stood the test of time?
I would pribably get fed up with it after a year or two & do it a different colour or something, unless it was a huge project like a kitchen.
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/painting-furniture-t38427.html
paintycat, says s/he's been using it for 2 years, I don't know if that's, used a piece of furniture painted with it for 2 years or done lots of projects.

annie-c

hermum wrote: »

On her site it says that she's been selling the paint since 1991, I wonder if it would be possible to find anyone who painted something that long ago & it stood the test of time?
I would pribably get fed up with it after a year or two & do it a different colour or something, unless it was a huge project like a kitchen.
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/painting-furniture-t38427.html
paintycat, says s/he's been using it for 2 years, I don't know if that's, used a piece of furniture painted with it for 2 years or done lots of projects.

Thanks so much - that's great!

Here is a link to her Annie Sloan paint blog posts: http://decoratescotland.blogspot.com/search/label/Annie%20Sloan%20Paint

I think I have decided Annie Sloan isn't for me, I prefer the chic end of shabby chic, I guess :rotfl:but it is really good to see how it is used and as with all things shabby chic, it is just horses for courses. I will probably fall in love with a friend's kitchen one day and it will turn out to be Annie Sloan just to teach me a lesson.

bensonsmum

Seakay wrote: »

Looks fabulous! What did you use on the front of the draws? It looks like that silk wallcovering that they used in grand houses in the 18th C but I'm assuming that it's something else?

Glad you liked it - really pleased to say my daughter loved it; so its now taken pride of place in her new bedroom.

I used "Laura Ashley" wallpaper called "LILAC" to cover the draws and the paint i used was from Homebase "Sanctuary" range, i loved the colour but to be honest the paint itself was no where near as good as the F & B i have previously used, and took 5 coats yet when i have used F & B it has only taken a couple of coats to get the same type of coverage.

I took a load of rubbish to the local tip - left from our house move and whilst there i found a screen sat on the top of one of the skips, i asked if i could have it, so pleased to say i will now be attempting to re-cycle the screen for my daughters bedroom, i will put up some photos of before and after when i manage to dig out my camera from the packing boxes.